AI: Ban on Mejlis will culminate repressions in Crimea

The ban on the Mejlis by the Russian authorities in Crimea will culminate the repressions against the Crimean Tatar people, according to international human rights organization Amnesty International.

KYIV (QHA) -

The persecution of the Mejlis members and the intention to shut down a representative body of the Crimean Tatar People violate the fundamental human rights, according to a statement by human rights activists.

The organization's representatives believe that such actions are evidence of a new wave of repressions against the indigenous people of Crimea and all those who oppose the annexation of Ukrainian peninsula.

- Crimean Tatar community de facto suffers from a repressive policy most of all. Its public events are regularly forbidden; the leaders and activists are searched and detained on the basis of politically motivated charges. A forced closure of the Crimean Tatar media has deprived the community of local independent media. Ban on the Mejlis will be a culmination of repressive measures against the Crimean Tatars, said Tatiana Mazur, Director of Amnesty International in Ukraine.

Human rights activists called on the occupying authorities to withdraw all the baseless charges against the Mejlis and to cease all repressions against the residents of occupied Crimea.

- Groundless charges brought against the Mejlis for allegedly being an "extremist organization" must be withdrawn, and the repressions against the Crimean Tatar and pro-Ukrainian activists, who express their views in Crimea, must be ceased. The right to freedom of assembly, association and expression also must be respected, according to Amnesty International.

February 20, 2014 has been recognized an official start date of Russia’s occupation of Crimea.